A roof system generally includes a roof deck that is considered the structural supporting surface of a building extending between surrounding exterior walls of the building. The roof deck may be constructed from plywood, metal decking or concrete or any other suitable material. If desired, the roofing system may also include an insulation barrier formed from polyisocyanurate or any other suitable material applied over the roof deck.
To make the roof system weather resistant, a membrane roof may be installed over the roof deck. A membrane roof refers to a water impermeable sheet of polymeric material such as thermoplastic olefins, chlorinated polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, chlorosulfonated polyethylene or ethylene propylene diene rubber (EPDM). The sheet may be a single-ply or a multi-ply sheet material. The membrane roof may be mechanically fastened over the roof deck using a variety of different methods well known in the art.
The membrane roof may be formed using a variety of techniques well known in the art. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,337,122; 4,343,667 and 5,486,249, incorporated herein by reference.
Although the various methods of forming EPDM roofing membrane have been proven to be satisfactory, further improvements of forming EPDM roofing membrane are desired. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of continuously curing a sheet material formed of EPDM material. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of continuously manufacturing and curing in-line a sheet material of EPDM to form an EPDM roofing membrane. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of continuously manufacturing and curing in-line multi-ply sheet materials to form an EPDM roofing membrane. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method continuously manufacturing and curing in-line a sheet material to form an EPDM roofing membrane that is simple and economical to use.